1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector detecting an incomplete insertion of a terminal into a terminal accommodating chamber at the time of installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-30031 has disclosed a related connector. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this connector comprises a housing main body 3 in which a terminal 1 is inserted and accommodated, a spacer member 5 which, if the terminal 1 is inserted incompletely therein, blocks installation of the terminal 1 into the housing main body 3 and a sealing member 7 which is disposed inside the housing main body 3 in order to seal a gap with a fit mating connector. The housing main body 3 contains terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9 which are protruded from a proximal portion in a direction and in which each terminal 1 is inserted and accommodated. This connector further has terminal insertion portions 11, 11, which allow the terminal 1 to be inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9, provided on the other side of the housing main body 3 and a fitting hood portion 13 which is provided around the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9 so as to be fit to a mating connector. The housing main body 3 is provided with stopper portions 15, 15 stopping the terminals 1, 1 inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9.
The stopper portions 15, 15 are formed in a cantilever shape having an elasticity. These stopper portions 15, 15 are formed integrally with a base portion 8 of the housing main body 3 on the proximal end side of the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9 and disposed in respective openings 19, 19 formed in outer peripheral walls 17, 17 of the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9. These stopper portions 15, 15 are distorted themselves, so that front ends thereof can be deflected with their proximal ends as fulcrum points.
When the spacer member 5 is installed onto the housing main body 3, it covers the outer peripheral walls 17, 17 from the front ends of the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9 and is disposed on the side of the outer periphery of each of the stopper portions 15, 15.
When such a connector 21 is assembled, the terminal 1 is inserted and accommodated into the terminal accommodating chambers 9, 9 and the spacer member 5 is installed onto the housing main body 3. At this time, the sealing member 7 is installed onto the housing main body 3 preliminarily.
If the terminal 1 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 9, the front end of the stopper portion 15 is deflected outward of the terminal accommodating chamber 9 with the proximal end side as a fulcrum point. Then, when the terminal 1 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 9 properly, the stopper portion 15 is restored to its original state due to elasticity thereby stopping the terminal 1. Then, the stopper portion 15 is entirely accommodating in the opening 19 of the terminal accommodating chamber 9.
Then, the spacer member 5 is installed onto the housing main body 3. Consequently, the spacer member 5 covers the outer peripheral wall 17 of the terminal accommodating chamber 9 and is disposed outside the stopper portion 15. As a result, the spacer member 5 prevents the stopper portion 15 from being distorted carelessly.
If the terminal 1 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 9 incompletely, the front end of the stopper portion 15 is deflected outward of the terminal accommodating chamber 9. If the spacer member 5 is installed onto the housing main body 3 under this condition, the spacer member 5 comes into contact with the front end of the stopper portion 15. At this time, the stopper portion 15 blocks installation of the spacer member 5 onto the housing main body 3 due to its own elasticity. Therefore, this connector 21 enables detecting an incomplete insertion of the terminal 1 into the terminal accommodating chamber 9 at the time of the installation.
However, when the spacer member 5 comes into contact with the front end of the stopper portion 15 in the aforementioned related connector 21, installation of the spacer member 5 onto the housing main body 3 is blocked by elasticity of the stopper portion 15. Thus, if a force in the installation direction onto the housing main body 3 is applied to the spacer member 5 resisting the elastic force of the stopper portion 15, the front end of the stopper portion 15 may be deflected in the installation direction of the spacer member 5 onto the housing main body 3.
Thus, in the connector 21, even if the insertion of the terminal 1 into the terminal accommodating chamber 9 is incomplete because of breaking of the stopper portion 15 at its proximal end or the other reason, the installation of the spacer member 5 onto the housing main body 3 is sometimes achieved without being blocked. As a result, the conventional connector 21 is sometimes incapable of detecting an incomplete insertion of the terminal 1 into the terminal accommodating chamber 9.
Further, in case where the stopper portion 15 is damaged, for example, broken, even if the insertion of the terminal 1 into the terminal accommodating chamber 9 is complete, sometimes, the terminal 1 cannot be stopped so that after the connector 21 is assembled, the terminal 1 may slip out of the housing main body 3.
Further, in the connector 21, it is necessary to pay special attention to an installation force when installing the spacer member 5 onto the housing main body 3 in order to prevent the stopper portion 15 from being damaged. For the reason, working efficiency of the installation drops entirely.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector which, when a spacer member is blocked from being installed onto a housing main body, protects a stopper portion from a damage and further prevents working efficiency of the installation from being lowered.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector comprising: a housing main body having a terminal accommodating chamber into which a terminal is to be inserted; a stopper portion which is provided on the housing main body and has a flexibility allowing when the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber, to be deflected outward with respect to the terminal accommodating chamber and when the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber properly, to be restored to a normal state, so as to stop the terminal; and a spacer member which is to be installed onto the housing main body and if insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber is incomplete, comes into contact with the deflected stopper portion so that it is blocked from being installed onto the housing main body, wherein the housing main body is provided with deflection restricting means which with the spacer member in contact with the stopper portion, restricts the stopper portion from being deflected in the installation direction of the spacer member onto the housing main body.
According to the first aspect of the invention having such a structure, if the spacer member is installed onto the housing main body with the insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber incomplete, such an incomplete insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber can be detected because the spacer member comes into contact with the stopper portion.
If, with the spacer member in contact with the stopper portion, a further force is applied to the spacer member in the installation direction onto the housing main body resisting an elastic force of the stopper portion, deflection of the stopper portion in the installation direction of the spacer member onto the housing main body is restricted by the deflection restricting means so as to prevent the stopper portion from being damaged, for example, broken.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector according to the first aspect wherein the deflection restricting means is comprised of flexible bar-like bodies, links a rear end of the stopper portion in the installation direction of the spacer member onto the housing main body with the terminal accommodating chamber along the installation direction of the spacer member onto the housing main body and avoids the spacer member installed onto the housing main body with insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber incomplete, the deflection restricting means being deflected together with the stopper portion when the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber and pulling a rear end of the stopper portion in the axial direction when the spacer member comes into contact with the stopper portion with insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber incomplete.
According to the second aspect of the invention, if the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber, the stopper portion is distorted due to its own elasticity and at the same time, deflection of the stopper portion in an upward direction is allowed due to elasticity of the bar-like bodies.
If with the insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber incomplete, the spacer member is installed onto the housing main body, it is so constructed that the bar-like bodies avoid the spacer member so that the spacer member comes into contact with the stopper portion.
Further, if a further force is applied to the spacer member kept in contact with the stopper portion in the installation direction onto the housing main body resisting the elastic force of the stopper portion, the bar-like bodies pull the stopper portion in the axial direction. Consequently, deflection of the stopper portion in the installation direction of the spacer member onto the housing main body can be restricted, so that the stopper portion can be protected from a damage, for example, breaking.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector according to the second aspect, wherein the bar-like bodies are formed within the terminal accommodating chamber.
According to the third aspect of the invention, the bar-like bodies are formed within the terminal accommodating chamber. Therefore, the deflection restricting means can be provided without enlarging the size of the connector.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector according to the first aspect, wherein the spacer member is disposed outside the stopper portion when installed on the housing main body so as to restrict deflection of the stopper portion.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the spacer member is disposed outside the stopper portion when the spacer member is installed onto the housing main body, thereby preventing the stopper portion from being deflected outward of the terminal accommodating chamber carelessly.